San Jose Gun Buyback Planned, First Since 2001

San Jose cops hope to trade gift cards for thousands of guns.

With the homicide rate rising to record levels, San Jose will try to pay its way out of the worst murder rate in two decades.

The San Jose Police Department will host its first gun buyback -- a method tried and true in other cities that want to curb gun violence -- since 2001 on Dec. 14, with $100 gift cards for handguns and rifles, and $200 gift cards for "working assault weapons," according to the San Jose Mercury News.

The buyback will take place at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 2012 E. San Antonio Ave., the newspaper reported.

The homicide rate has doubled in San Jose since the last gun buyback, from an average of 22 a decade ago to 44 this year, the newspaper reported.

No questions will be asked of anyone turning in a gun, including gang members with stolen guns, police say. Stolen guns will be returned to their owners, and legally-obtained guns will be "destroyed," the newspaper reported.

Officials are hoping for $60,000 in gift cards -- or thousands of guns.

Weapons must be transported unloaded in the trunk of a car.

No walk-up weapons will be accepted.
 

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